


Kotetsu's Crappy New Year's

by Xenafox



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Comedy, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-31
Updated: 2012-12-31
Packaged: 2017-11-23 12:02:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/621914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xenafox/pseuds/Xenafox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kotetsu's first New Years engaged to Barnaby...</p><p>And he's stuck at a party while his lover has to be on a New Year's Special.</p><p>Sucks, man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kotetsu's Crappy New Year's

**Author's Note:**

> Set in a timeline where they engaged, from the story "Take My Whole Life Too" which runs after "To Light the Shadows on Your Face".

A loud crash captured everyone’s attention, and Kotetsu was on his feet before he realized what was even happening. His adrenaline was pumping, ready to go, and his ears were listening for any sort of scream…

“Sit down you idiot,” Antonio said, pulling on Kotetsu’s arm and making him fall back on his butt, into a nice cushy chair.

“What the hell was that noise?” Kotetsu asked, as the rest of the room picked their chatter back up and things went back to normal.

“Someone just knocked down some dishes. That’s all.”

Kotetsu had been at the party – Nathan’s party, specifically – for a while, a few hours, but he was jumpy. It had been a long day and even though it was New Year’s Eve and he should be relaxing, he was still wound up.

Barnaby wasn’t there.

The two had gotten separated during a call, resulting in not getting to talk before Barnaby was taken away in a rush to be prepped for a New Year’s Special. Tiger had not been invited.

Since getting off that call, getting changed, and realizing what happened, Kotetsu had been slightly bitter along with his annoyance that his lover was being kept from him for hours that particular night. Barnaby claimed he never even agreed to do it, that it was part of some very tiny fine print somewhere. Kotetsu was sure he agreed without knowing it would just be him, but he didn’t bring that up.

Instead he drank, went to the party, and drank more, trying to get himself in a good mood for what should be an awesome night.

Nathan’s place was fantastic. It was a little too hot pink for Kotetsu’s taste, but the fine liquors were running and the seats were all padded – or they were couches – and the music was at an unreasonable volume, which Nathan himself wasn’t all that happy about but the drunker Keith got, the higher up it kept going and that was getting closer to a party atmosphere.

Karina and Pao-Lin all hung back slightly, since they were underage. They drank virgin daiquiris and laughed at the others mostly. Pao-Lin would likely sleep over and discuss girly things with Nathan, but Karina was on limited time since her family wanted to see her. It was getting near eleven at night and Kotetsu wasn’t sure why she was still there.

And why Barnaby wasn’t.

“He’s not gonna get here in time.”

“It’s a New Year’s SPECIAL, Kotetsu. He’ll probably have to be there at midnight,” Antonio reminded him and pushed his drink toward him.

“I don’t care! He should have told them he’d make an appearance and then he had something to do.”

“Everyone knows you two date,” Ivan said, making Kotetsu yelp as he seemed to come out of nowhere. He was drinking. He shouldn’t be. Nathan didn’t seem to care. In fact, Kotetsu was pretty sure he’d seen Nathan fix him a Tequila Sunrise himself. And that was a while ago – he had to be on his second or third drink.

He just glared. “So?”

“Just saying, I doubt he would mysteriously say he has ‘something’ to do, and he probably also isn’t going to tell them he has to leave to see his boyfriend,” Ivan pointed out with a big stupid smile on his face.

Kotetsu wasn’t a huge fan of drunk Ivan, so he decided to be a dick. “Oh yea, yea, you’re right, the same way you were pissing and moaning earlier because ‘you were in a bad mood’ when what you meant was ‘wah my boyfriend’s in jail’.”

Ivan stared at him in shock and Antonio grabbed Kotetsu’s arm again. “Too far man!”

He was right. Kotetsu felt like a total jackass even as he said it. “Sorry, sorry…”

“YOU GUYS JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND!” Ivan cried and turned away, knocking his drink over as he left in an overdramatic weeping style.

“Ivan come back I’m sorry,” Kotetsu said in the flattest, most insincere voice he had, even though he really was sorry. He turned back to Antonio. “Whatever. He’s just going to go eat until he stops crying.”

Antonio shook his head. “You know, you’re acting like a jerk tonight. Are you really that upset that Barnaby isn’t here?” he asked, giving Kotetsu an annoyed look.

Kotetsu wilted a little under it. “I am. I know it’s stupid. But I wanted to start a new year with him…”

“You did that this year, just the two of you in Oriental Town. Alone. Probably celebrating in ways I don’t want to hear about.”

“And we’d be doing that tonight!”

“AFTER this party, I hope.”

“Oh. Yea. But still!” Kotetsu sighed and toyed with his glass instead of sipping from it. “I wanted him to be here…we’re supposed to start every year together.”

“That’s silly – oh, damn.” Antonio said, suddenly looking over Kotetsu’s head. “Don’t look, Sky High started stripping.”

“Where?” Kotetsu asked, and immediately looked. Keith was doing some sort of booty-shaking dance, and his shirt was on the floor. Nathan was clapping, which meant he was a bit drunker than Kotetsu realized.

Antonio snickered. “You know, Barnaby wouldn’t want you checking out other guys.”

“Checking out Sky High!?” Kotetsu laughed. “No. No! Never. I just like watching him make a fool of himself.”

“You’ve done it before too, you know.”

“I know.”

“You even danced on a table and rubbed mints on your nipples.”

Kotetsu cringed and laughed weakly, getting into a better mood.

Almost.

“What did you DO!?” Pao-Lin’s voice asked angrily, and Kotetsu came face to face with an angry Dragon Kid. “Ivan’s in the bathroom, crying!”

“Oh, uh…” Kotetsu fumbled, previous tiny good mood dying away almost instantly.

“I know he’s drunk like the rest of you idiots, but he was at least happy before!”

He was a jerk, actually, but Kotetsu resisted saying that. “Is he throwing up? Maybe he’s crying because he threw up, no one likes doing that.”

“Kotetsu…” Antonio nudged him. “Go apologize.”

“Yea, or I’ll have Nathan kick you out!” Pao-Lin threatened, and that was a possibility. Pao-Lin and Nathan were pretty tight.

Kotetsu finally agreed, slipping off his chair and crossing the ‘dance floor’ to find the bathroom. He would have liked to just slip through, but shirtless-Keith noticed him right away and grooved right on over. “No please no please,” Kotetsu mouthed, holding up his hands, but Keith kept going until he was merely inches away.

“HI TIGER! ARE YOU READY TO – WAIT FOR IT – DANCE!?” Keith asked, yelling louder than he needed to.

“Use your inside voice!” Kotetsu told him, and tried to get past. “No. I’m trying to get to the bathroom to find Ivan. Where is the bathroom anyway?”

Keith stared at him with a smile, and it was awkward. It went on for a good minute too.

“Um…Sky High?”

“I’M SORRY, I TRIED TO USE MY INDOOR VOICE! THE BATHROOM IS TO THE LEFT! DOWN A HALL, AND AGAIN, TO THE LEFT!”

Kotetsu shook his head and shoved by. He didn’t look back to see if Keith was still dancing, instead turning, going down the hall, and turning again. For once that weird repetitive thing worked out…He didn’t dwell on that. He could clearly hear the sound of crying from the bathroom, and he followed it, knocking on the door first. “Origami?”

“Wh-what? Go away!”

“Origami, are you decent? Not um, taking a crap or anything?”

“Shut up!”

Taking that as a safe answer, Kotetsu opened the door to see that Ivan had forced himself into a corner and was weeping into his hands. His eyes were red rimmed and he seemed to have been crying pretty hard, which sobered Kotetsu up more.

Boy, he felt like an asshole.

“Aw, shit, Ivan I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” he trailed off, Ivan’s real name slipping out.

“You did too!”

“No, I didn’t. I was just upset because I want Barnaby here, okay? I didn’t mean to talk like that. I’m sorry Edward can’t be here.” He wasn’t, but a little lie to help his apology wouldn’t hurt.

“You hate him. You all hate him.” Ivan continued, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

Gross. “I don’t hate him. It takes a lot for me to hate anybody. I’m not that fond of him, but I don’t think he’s an evil person. He just, fucked up, and then lost himself for a while,” Kotetsu said. That was the truth, as he saw it. Edward had wanted to be a Hero and messed up. Kotetsu would have a lot more sympathy for the kid if he hadn’t broken out of jail and tried to kill Ivan, though part of his brain said that Edward wouldn’t have allowed himself to finish the job.

He wasn’t really a villain. Whenever Ivan returned from talking to him, he was always extremely happy, and none of them had as much success in making Ivan smile.

“You jus’ don’t like him,” Ivan continued, though he was down to sniffing and less tears flowing. “You never did.”

“…Whatever. Does that really matter? Look whether I like him or not, you do, and I shouldn’t have been an ass about it. It sucks to have someone you care about in jail and never at your side – oh, shit.” Ivan looked like he’d received tragic news. “I didn’t mean to remind you that- arrrgh! Look, I’m sorry, okay? I don’t know how to say it better! I hope you can have a conjugal visit okay? Get some action and all that. I want you to be able to see him. I was just being an ass because you pissed me off.”

“You and Barnaby are annoying,” Ivan started, wiping his nose again.

“I guess so…” Were they? They weren’t always all over each other, were they?

“Just leave me alone.”

“But do you accept my ap-“

“Go away,” Ivan said, fading into the corner.

Kotetsu sighed, but nodded and backed out slowly.

Some New Year’s it was turning out to be. He was sad and bitter and brought it on someone else. He slowly walked back down the hallway to Keith’s dancing area, where he was horrified to see the pants were coming off and Antonio was pleading with him to keep them on. Nathan was conversing with Karina as she got into her coat. Kotetsu figured she must be about to go home and see her parents for the night.

Pao-Lin sought him out, turning down the music to the sound of a long whine from Keith. “So?” she asked Kotetsu.

“I apologized and he’s not crying as much but wow, he’s pissed at me. Just not happy,” he said, and she sighed.

“I’m on damage-control then. I knew someone would get drunk and cry,” she muttered before stomping off.

Kotetsu watched her go and returned to his table so he could finish his barely-started drink. He stood as he finished it, watching Antonio try in vain to keep Keith’s pants from coming down more. Luckily for everyone involved he had on a pair of dark boxers with cartoon dogs underneath.

“Put them back on!” Antonio was saying as he tried to tug the pants back up from Keith’s ankles.

“But it’s hot in here, and I just wanna dance!” Keith complained.

Kotetsu snorted and decided to chug his drink down – a difficult task since it was pure vodka, but he only had a tiny urge to throw up by the time he finished. He brought the glass back to the bar and waved at Antonio. “I’m going.”

“Ah man, really? But it’s not midnight!” Antonio complained and then growled when Keith started grinding on him a little.

“Ah, you look busy anyway,” Kotetsu said and laughed. “I’m out.”

He said quick goodbyes to Nathan and Karina who were continuing to chit-chat, and left the building.

 

——————-

The city was more lively than ever, celebrations around every corner and the crowd almost too thick to move through. Kotetsu doubted he would even make it home to their apartment by midnight. He had to make it to his car, and then driving – forget driving! The streets were crowded and many were closed down as they were lined with tents and performances, like sword swallowers and a man who had several trained snakes.

Kotetsu bit back a sigh. He wouldn’t make it home. He wouldn’t see Barnaby. Even if he did make it home in time, Barnaby would be on that special, and he’d end up passed out. Earlier that day he’d purchased a fine bottle of wine, similar to one they had on a date some months ago. Two nice, shiny wine glasses awaited them back in the kitchen, all of it waiting to be set up in front of the couch and enjoyed as they came into the new year together.

Instead, Kotetsu was trying to get around some guy who smelled like cat piss and the alcohol he’d hurried to drink was making his mood nosedive.

He considered getting to his car, crawling inside, and just sleeping there since it didn’t really matter anymore. He wasn’t wanted on that crummy show because he was old news. And he’d proven he couldn’t be around his friends because all that resulted in was Ivan crying. The others were mad at him too. They had to be.

The only one who wouldn’t be mad was probably Keith and Kotetsu was sure he would be too hungover the next day to care who cried and why.

He was going to start the year depressed, alone, and deserving of all of it. It was hard to think about.

Well, he was determined to get to his car so he continued on. It was still slow going and he fought the urge to punch a guy who kept trying to sell him a special New Year’s hat. He had and liked his own hat!

Kotetsu had been trying to get around for a while before he caught his phone going off. In the loudness on the street he could barely hear anything. There were kids yelling, adults yelling, and overall loud chatter. His head was starting to ache, and he knew he was going to be unhappy if someone at the party was calling him to get mad at him.

“Hello!?” he answered without looking.

“Kotetsu?”

Barnaby’s voice, and Kotetsu perked up. He paused where he was causing someone to crash into him and start cussing him out. Kotetsu moved so they could pass. “Bunny!” he nearly shouted into the phone.

“Not so loud, ow…I heard you left the party?”

“Yes…”

“Where are you now?” he asked.

“Um, not sure, um…” Kotetsu looked around. He couldn’t see street signs and everything looked so different due to the decorations and set-ups. “You out of the show?”

“Yes. I told them I’m sorry but I had to go, if Tiger couldn’t be there to ring in the year than I wouldn’t be either. Lloyds won’t be happy.”

“Too bad for him.” Kotetsu smiled. How stupid could he be, thinking that Barnaby would just be okay with starting the year without him? God, what an idiot he’d been! “Um, I think I see that hot dog place I like. You know, ‘Walk the Dog’? The place with-“

“With the hot dog on a leash.” Kotetsu could almost hear the eye rolling on the other end. “I know. Wait outside and I’ll do my best to get there,” Barnaby told him.

“Cool. You should have plenty of time.”

“Ah…no. No, I have fifteen minutes.”

Kotetsu’s eyes went wide. Fifteen minutes! It was impossible for Barnaby to get there that fast! He couldn’t exactly plow through all the people with hundred power, not without it causing issues. “U-um, okay. I’ll be waiting, Bunny.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“How about we talk until you get here?” Kotetsu asked, moving again to get to the place. He clung to his phone, and Barnaby’s voice. He needed to see him. Badly.

“No, that’ll slow me down.”

“Awww.”

“I’ll be there soon. Don’t make anyone else cry while you wait. Bye.” The phone went quiet and Kotetsu paused to stare at it. Barnaby knew about Ivan…great.

He’d pay for that one later.

Until then, he began the longest fifteen minutes ever. People were beginning to gather in key areas, best viewing for the midnight presentation that would be over Sternbild. They often did a light show in the sky. Not with fireworks exactly, but something with more flash without the boom and much much safer.

He wanted to watch it with Barnaby.

“You can’t loiter out here without ordering!” the man running Walk the Dog yelled at him. Kotetsu turned and once the man saw it was a regular he calmed down, but still made Kotetsu order a hot dog.

Five minutes remained, and he felt anxiety pooling in his stomach as he forced down the stupid hot dog and scanned the crowds for Barnaby. He had to get there soon, he had to! If he was late, Kotetsu didn’t know what to think.

It was stupid honestly, because whether he made it before midnight or after, he would still be there, but Kotetsu needed him at the start. It had been a long night, and his neediness for Bunny did not need to last into the next year.

The minutes dragged by, slower and slower and yet going way too fast. Kotetsu watched a man and woman kissing in front of him, and near them, a couple of men leaning into each other for warmth and looking up at the sky. And near them was a mother with her two children, trying to keep them quiet and telling them to look up. There were other couples, other parents with kids, even a woman cuddling a cat, and Kotetsu was there alone.

To his horror, the countdown began.

“TEN! NINE! EIGHT!”

Well, maybe a year from then he would have Barnaby with him to start it right.

“FIVE! FOUR! THREE!”

And then he was hit!

HARD.

Something crashed into Kotetsu from nowhere and he went down hard, or would have if he hadn’t been knocked onto some conveniently placed pillows. He was trying to make sense of it when he heard the count of “ONE!” followed by “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!” and then soft lips pressed against his own, a tongue already trying to sneak between them.

He knew that maneuver.

Eagerly he wrapped his arms around Barnaby, squeezing him and kissing back. He was a bit painfully positioned even against the pillows, and people were gathered around, their attention likely mostly on the light show. It was still by no means private but Kotetsu didn’t care.

When Barnaby stopped kissing him, Kotetsu nuzzled him. “I didn’t think you’d make it,” he told him, smiling.

“Neither did I. I had to activate my powers and do some hopping around so I didn’t run over anyone,” Barnaby said, voice sounding little off and breath smelling…interesting.

Kotetsu hadn’t noticed on the phone, but he could pick up Barnaby’s speech much better there. “You’re drunk, aren’t you?” Normally Barnaby would never literally tackle him down.

“Only a little,” Barnaby said.

“Only a lot.” Kotetsu kissed him again, and then they began to sit up. “I’m glad you made it in time.” ‘Glad’ didn’t even begin to put it accurately, and he beamed up at Barnaby.

“Me too. I know it’s dumb but I was seriously unhappy about not starting the year with you.” Barnaby was on his wobbly legs first, and managed to help up Kotetsu even if he nearly fell back down in the process. “I wanted to get to the party, but Fire Emblem said you made Ivan cry and left.”

“Ah, yea, well…”

“Rock Bison said he brought it on himself by picking at you.”

“There’s no excuse, I shouldn’t have-“

“Oh Kotetsu, I don’t care!” Barnaby said, surprising the hell out of Kotetsu. “I know you well enough that – ugh, let’s can the emotional talk and go home, can we do that?”

“R-really?”

“Maybe it’s the brandy talking…or the gin, I’m not really sure-“

“No wine?”

Barnaby stared at him, silencing himself momentarily. “…Wiiiiine.”

Kotetsu laughed. “I have some at home, do you want it?” he asked, reaching for Barnaby’s hand.

Barnaby took his hand in a manner that could only be described as aggressive, and cuddled right up to him. “I do. Hey, I like saying that. I do,” he said, holding out the hand his engagement ring sat on and staring at that.

Kotetsu let him do that for a moment, but stopped it before Barnaby’s eyes glazed over. “Right, Bunny. Stare at it when we’re home and there aren’t people…looking…oh…”

People were looking at them. And some cameras were out. Barnaby tugged on Kotetsu. “They’re watching us. I don’t care! I’m in love!”

Declarations of love – they were possibly entering the level of drunk that involved throwing up, so Kotetsu took Barnaby’s face in his hands and captured his attention. “Look at me. We’re going home now, okay? Try not to pass out, but if you do, it’s okay. We started our year together, and that’s all that matters.”

“Eeeehh…”

“You are also far more drunk than me, and I kind of do want to get home with you so you can have some water and we can cuddle before you pass out.”

“Cuddles.” Barnaby grinned at him.

That was his cue. Kotetsu looked at the folks watching and tipped his hat to them. He scooped up Barnaby, grunted, and then activated his powers. They may be nearly gone, but he had time to get Barnaby home if he just hopped along some buildings.

He took a deep breath and then with one jump he was off into the multi-colored sky, Barnaby safe in his arms.


End file.
